Proper Nutrition/Diet For Fostering A Healthy Lifestyle to a Developing Toddler

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Proper Nutrition/Diet For Fostering A Healthy Lifestyle to a Developing Toddler

Hi everyone! My query is regarding the proper nutrition of my 2-year old Cielo. I am very meticulous with the proper food intake of my child. She has good appetite, drinks her milk on time, and finishes her solid food very well. Her weight gain and growth is perfectly normal as well. I just wanted to ensure that I am on the right path in guiding her to live a healthy lifestyle. I would like to gain some insights on what really comprises of a proper nutrition/diet. What are the appropriate food/snacks for a developing toddler? Thank you very much in advance for your replies!

In general you'll want to be sure that her sugar intake is very low, instead focusing on fresh fruit to give her the energy she needs. 2 year olds LOVE green smoothies, and this is where you place fruit, water and greens (i.e. kale, lettuce, spinach, chard, etc.) in a blender and blend it up into a thick smoothie drink.

The taste of the greens isn't noticeable because of the sweetness of the fruit, but those greens sure add a lot of nutrition.

If you do a search on these forums for the words "green smoothie" you will find lots of videos and recipe ideas. I just found another one which I'm going to post below. What's "new" and "different" about this one is that the smoothie didn't actually turn green from the spinach she put in and she didn't use a high powered blender, she just used a food processor type of blender that she normally makes her baby food with. She also uses frozen spinach, and has used frozen peas before as well. I have never used frozen greens in my smoothies - they have always been fresh, but if you don't have fresh on hand, frozen will work in a pinch (*Note - frozen vegetables have already been blanched/cooked so they don't have all the enzymes that fresh vegetables do, but they are FAR better than canned.)

And here's another video. This one shows a very deep green smoothie, which was created with almond milk (you can use coconut milk instead, or even water), bananas, berries and spinach (use a handful of fresh spinach when you can). You'll see how this toddler LOVES the smoothie. And if there's any leftover, you'll love it too! Use fruits you like, and go easy on the greens to begin with, but eventually you'll be able to add more greens. If the combination of greens and fruit cause loose bowels, then back-off on the greens to see if that helps.

Hi Kate! I'm using another account, since I forgot the password of the first one. Thanks a lot for the wonderful insights and the informative videos posted. I am very glad to have joined in this kind of forum. You are a great help so I can be a successful mother to my toddler.

Have you tried making a smoothie yet? Do you have a blender? A blender is a super great investment and really helps to avoid medical bills from children who get sick often. The smoothies created in a blender help a child to avoid sugar while giving them a ton of good nutrition (a good milkshake alternative).